The Ring
by Marish89
Summary: Set after Embraceable You. Jordan decides to grow up and she goes to Woody to begin. But will he accept her tentative proposal? JordanWoody Romance.


I never thought that I would be the one to love him. I never thought that I would be the one that he loved. I had never believed what he told me, regardless of the fact that I knew it was true.

He had given me a ring, and I had rejected it. It had been too much, I wasn't ready. I thought I wasn't but when I saw the hurt in his eyes after I told him I couldn't accept the ring, that had hurt much more than anything I had ever known.

Just by chance, we had caught a case together, a pair of best friends who had fallen in love. The case hit a little too close to home. Woody and I were best friends, and we had fallen in love, the only difference, I hadn't admitted it and we hadn't acted on it.

This strange dance, this mating ritual that we'd been dancing around for the past few years, had finally gotten to Woody and he was fed up. Either have me completely, romantically, or don't. There was an ultimatum, one that I couldn't choose between.

I chose the one that wouldn't hurt me as much, the one that would ensure that I would not get hurt by him. I chose to be friends, to not take a chance and jump. And then throughout the case, we'd both been taking a little too personally, we'd been awkward around each other. The non-trusting type comment, the revelation about Cindy, the interrogation of Joey, her best friend where he had looked at me through the two-way and I had seen every emotion in his eyes, and finally the ring, it had been too much for me to handle and I had told Nigel.

He had made me realise that although I had the chance of being hurt by not 'stepping up to that plate', it would hurt more if I let him go. So I tried to talk to him about it, but he had stated that he received the message, loud and clear. But it was the wrong message.

The message I wanted to give was that he meant the world to me. That I could always trust him, and he could do the same. That I felt more for him, than even he knew, but before I could have said any of this, he had cut me off and stated that we were better off as just friends. I was hurt.

"Really?" I had asked.

"Truth is, if you hooked up, we'd probably end up killing each other within a week." He said, but not really meaning it.

"You really think that?" I asked, the hurt conveyed in my voice, regardless of how much I tried to keep it out.

"No, but if I keep telling myself that..." he trailed off before leaving me with my broken thoughts and my first rejection and a cracked heart.

I had gone to Garret's office after that. My first shattered heart had made me realise that it was time for me to grow up, and what better way than to start by acknowledging my own birthday. Garret had been my witness and as soon as I had made my wish, had questioned the sudden change in me.

"It was just time."

"Something made you realise that you needed to grow up. What was it?"

I hadn't responded, and he had said in sudden realisation, "Woody."

"What happened, Jordan?" he had asked quietly.

"He gave me a diamond ring." Garret gasped, "No, not that sort of ring. A ring that meant something more than friendship, you know a way to make sure that everyone knew I was taken, as such."

"You gave it back, didn't you?"

I nodded, and he continued, "Why?"

"I was scared, and then the case at the convent and I truly realised what he meant to me and I tried to tell him that, but then when I tried to tell him, he said that it was for the best that we didn't do anything."

"You ever think that maybe he didn't want to hear you reject him again?"

"But I wasn't going to."

"How was he meant to know that?"

"I started, I told him that I cared for him so much, more than he realised and he said it was better off if we were friends. I started to tell him, and he cut me off."

"Go talk to him, tell him what he means to you. And make sure he listens to you, make sure that he understands, then at least if he tells you again you're better off as friends, at least you tried, completely."

I nodded and left, heading to Woody's apartment, hoping that he wouldn't reject me again.

Knocking on the door, I heard someone moving around. When the door finally opened, I was shocked at Woody's appearance. He had red eyes, and the smell of booze permeated his breath. Realizing he was drunk, I walked past him into the apartment and led him toward the bedroom. When he was inside, he seated himself on the bed, and I pulled him down. Tucking him under the covers, I kissed his forehead and left the room.

Cleaning his apartment, I retrieved a blanket from the cupboard and lay down on the couch, dreading the conversation that was to take place in the morning.

I woke Woody up at around 9am, and made breakfast.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, after eating the meal I made.

"I wanted to talk."

"Jordan, please, I can't take another one of these."

"No, Woody, you need to listen this time. I'm not going to say what you think." He nodded and I continued, "Woody, I care for you so much, more than I think you know. I've tried to hide from everything for so long, I thought that if I never let anyone in, I wouldn't get hurt. But it's too late for that now, you made yourself a home within my heart and I realised that it hurt more than anything to let you go. That's what I wanted to tell you when you cut me off. I think I'm in love with you Woody, but I'm terrified that I'll get hurt. But I trust you not to hurt me, and I trust you enough to place my heart in your hands. It's your call Woody." I finished gently, holding is right hand tightly.

He was silent, not saying anything. I got scared, my heart shattering at his silence, that I took as a sign of rejection. As quickly as I could, I pulled my hand from his and turned to leave the apartment. Just as I was about leave, a hand caught me by the waist and pulled me back. As my body collided with his, I felt a pair of lips on my own.

"I love you Jordan," he said quietly when we broke apart, "I have for so long."

Quickly he pulled a box from the table beside us, and presented the ring to me again. This time, I held my hand out and he placed the ring on my hand. Gently, we kissed again, and broke apart, we both whispered, "I love you," to each other.


End file.
